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Whitefish girls show goal scoring strength in playoff game

by WHITNEY ENGLAND
Whitefish Pilot | October 20, 2021 1:00 AM

By the end of the first half, Whitefish had scored eight goals and their system of play was clicking on all cylinders against Loyola Sacred Heart in the first-round playoff game Saturday.

Two more goals after the break secured the 10-0 victory for Whitefish and handed the Breakers a season-ending defeat.

“We’re not going to change how we play for opponents, we’re going to prepare for what they present and we’re going to play our game…” Whitefish head coach Roland Benedict said. “They weren’t prepared for what we offered.”

Whitefish’s Adrienne Healy started the goal-scoring frenzy just 2 minutes into the game. The team’s leading goal scorer, senior Emma Barron, then went off for four goals in a row. Olivia Genovese had two goals in the game, and Maeve Ingelfinger, Sofie Saurey and Anna Akey each had one.

Loyola had few chances and Whitefish dominated the possession time with the ball. Whitefish had 19 shots to Loyola’s four and winning in shutout fashion was a statement that the Bulldogs had hoped for.

“To put 10 goals on anybody is a really big statement…” Benedict said. “Billings beat Hamilton 6-0, which is a good result, but I was shocked they couldn’t score more than six goals on them. It’s kind of like, anything you can do, we can do better — and we took care of business in resounding fashion.”

All season the Lady Bulldogs have touted a tough, improved team from the squad that was narrowly defeated by Laurel in overtime in the State A final last year. Saturday’s blowout win was a testament to that improvement.

One of the biggest changes from last year’s team to the current squad is its potent offense with multiple goal-scoring threats. Barron leads the team in scoring statistics this season with 26 goals and 11 assists and is currently fourth in the league as a top scorer. Although teams know Barron’s number, Benedict says one of the greatest strengths the Bulldogs tout this year is multiple players with scoring abilities and a system that sets up players to be successful in front of the net.

“I can put anybody in those positions and because of the system they will have chances created for them because of the role they play…” Benedict expressed. “Yeah Emma can score goals for us, but if you try to take Emma out of the game we’re going to kill you because you can’t focus on one player, you have to focus on how do you stop us from playing and it’s almost impossible.”

Whitefish will face Billings Central in the Class A semifinal — just as they did one year ago. Last year’s game against Billings Central ended in a stingy 1-0 win for Whitefish after one of the Rams players was given a red card for hitting a Whitefish player.

Benedict is predicting a different game this year now that his team, mostly the same players from last year, has improved scoring ability and a bigger belief of what they’re capable of accomplishing.

“It’s a mental game, this group of girls has to believe and understand how good they are,” the coach said. “Once they get into a game with a Billings or a Laurel and they’re able to control the game, be creative and dangerous, it’s going to be scary when they start to have the belief that, wow, we are really good and really talented.”

Whitefish will hit the road to face Billings Central on Saturday in Billings. Game time is 10 a.m.

Loyola 0 0 — 0

Whitefish 8 2 — 10

WF — Adrienne Healy (Emma Barron) 2:00

WF — Barron (Olivia Genovese) 11:00

WF — Barron 21:00

WF — Barron (Anna Akey) 23:00

WF — Barron (Maddie Muhlfeld) 31:00

WF — Akey (Maeve Ingelfinger) 32:00

WF — Genovese (Ingelfinger) 40:00

WF — Ingelfinger (Maya Lacey) 44:00

WF — Sofie Saurey (Sophie Olson) 49:00

WF — Genovese (Lucy Lowry) 61:00

Shots — Loyola 4, WF 19. Goalie saves — Loyola 12, WF 3 (Norah Schmidt).

photo

Lady Bulldog Sofie Saurey breaks through a string of Breakers defenders on her way to scoring a goal in the second half of a playoff game against Loyola on Saturday at Smith Fields. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)

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